FLYING THE UKRAINIAN FLAG - FOR NOW

It was proposed at a meeting of local councillors this week that the Ukrainian flag be taken down from Pearse Square in Fermoy where it was first erected for the St Patrick’s Day parade.

The recommendation was made by the Municipal District Officer Pauline Moriarty, but several councillors disagreed with the suggestion. For now, the flag stays put.

Cllr Noel McCarthy was the one to vocalise his thoughts that the situation ‘could get out of control’ without a procedure to follow. The general consensus agreed at the meeting was that for future flag requests, the proposal must be submitted to one of the monthly district meetings and agreed upon.

Cllr William O’Leary countered this bureaucracy and said that a phone call or email to councillors would do in those situations, as “If a request comes in, we don’t need a meeting. If the reason is there to hang a flag, it’s sentimental, and it’s urgent’.

‘UP DATE’ & ‘DOWN DATE’

The Rathcormac councillor did put forward the suggestion that, normally, rather than the flag pole being empty, that the Irish flag be hung. However, Cllr Kay Dawson disagreed with the sentiment, saying that she felt the permanent hanging of the green, white and orange could be disrespectful, as inevitably with time, “they get old and tatty”. Cllr Dawson invoked the correct protocol of the treatment of the Irish flag, whereby it should only be raised and lowered ‘between the hours of dusk and dawn’.

While acknowledging the sensitivity of taking the Ukrainian flag down at this point, in future an ‘up date’ and a ‘down date’ approach was agreed amongst councillors in advance of any flag being flown.